Spirituality Archive

“The Color of Light,” my play about Henri Matisse - The chapel that Henri Matisse designed in Vence is a must-see for pretty much everyone visiting the South of France. It’s a painless expedition from Nice: a pleasant half-hour drive

100 Journeys for the Spirit - Reading “100 Journeys for the Spirit ” a brisk (225 pages) photograph-driven guide with short essays by Pico Iyer, Michael Ondaatje, Paul Theroux and a few other writers, I was forced

365 Tao: Daily Meditations - Guest Butler Dominique Browning is the author of Slow Love: How I Lost My Job, Put on My Pajamas, and Found Happiness and the creator of slowlovelife, one of

Advice for Future Corpses (And Those Who Love Them): A Practical Perspective on Death and Dying - One of the reasons I wrote a play about Matisse is that he had a great death. In his final years, he created his masterpiece. He had a deep spiritual

Baptism by Fire - Heather Choate was baptized at a font at a Los Angeles church so beautifully designed that it looked like a movie set. She went to Sunday school. She was confirmed.

Carl Jung: Memories, Dreams, Reflections - Carl Jung’s writing is for the professional --- it’s not particularly readable for the likes of me. But then there’s “Memories, Dreams, Reflections,” the book he wrote and dictated when

Chants of a Lifetime: Searching for a Heart of Gold - I don’t lose books. I lost this one. A few years ago, I bought “Chants of a Lifetime” in Los Angeles, got on the plane, read a few chapters, put it aside

Crooked Cucumber: The Life and Teaching of Shunryu Suzuki - The first thing that fascinated me about Shunryu Suzuki --- the monk who's mostly responsible for bringing Zen to America --- was his response when he was asked to summarize

Health, Healing, and Beyond - Guest Butler Jeffrey Rubin --- psychotherapist, meditation teacher, writer, and, on more than one occasion, spiritual compass for this website --- is the author of The Art of Flourishing. He

John O’Donohue: Anam Cara, A Book of Celtic Wisdom - I sometimes find myself on the outskirts of a conversation that has someone say, with regret: "National politics makes me feel like a spectator --- I can't think of anything

John O’Donohue: Our Friend Among the Dead - "Endings seem to lie in wait,” John O'Donohue wrote. His certainly did. He died in his sleep, January 4, 2008, on vacation near Avignon. He was just 53. I

John O’Donohue: Walking in Wonder: Eternal Wisdom for a Modern World - John O’Donohue was a student of Hegel who wrote his Ph.D. dissertation in German, an Irish priest, and then not a priest, but at all times a thinker, a very

Love Everyone: The Transcendent Wisdom of Neem Karoli Baba Told Through the Stories of the Westerners Whose Lives He Transformed - Richard Alpert went to India, met Neem Karoli Baba and returned to America as Ram Dass, author of the mega-bestseller "Be Here Now." He wasn’t supposed to speak about his

Man’s Search for Meaning - Hitler had already occupied Austria when Viktor Frankl, a young Viennese psychiatrist and writer, learned that the United States had approved his request to immigrate. His

Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why - We don’t deal with politics on HeadButler.com --- it’s pointlessly divisive, and there are a gazillion sites where kicking political opponents is considered Good Fun --- but can we discuss

Near Death in the ICU: Stories from Patients Near Death and Why We Should Listen to Them - My 101-year-old mother recently hurt her ankle and was, to her annoyance, bedridden. A few days of this, and she fell into a swoon and had a vision --- she

Paramahansa Yogananda: Autobiography of a Yogi - I've had a soft spot for 'Autobiography of a Yogi' ever since I was a kid. It was the first non-Western spiritual memoir I read, and its

Patience: The Art of Peaceful Living - "Peace can be found within, no matter the external circumstances,” Allan Lokos writes in “Patience: The Art of Peaceful Living.” “Forgive me, Allan,” I thought, when I read his book for

Paulo Coelho: The Alchemist - SUPPORTING BUTLER: Since the start of 2023, Amazon seems to have gone on a quiet campaign to rid itself of small sites that, collectively, generate revenue worth noticing — and

Pema Chodron: Awakening Loving-Kindness - Longtime Butler readers know I promote Pema Chodron every chance I get --- her no-bullshit Buddhism makes sense even if you have no interest in Buddhism. The full-length book to